PREVIEW: South Korea v Germany – FIFA Women’s World Cup Team News, Predicted Lineups and Where to Watch

As the group stage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup comes to a close, the sixteen remaining countries prepare for the business end of the tournament where the stakes are higher than ever. However, for now we only know fourteen of the teams that will battle at the round-of-sixteen stage, as two places remain up for grabs.

The occupants of Group H will be batting for these remaining berths on Thursday in cities either side of the Australian Outback. For South Korea and Germany, their battle will take place in Brisbane. Both will be looking to progress – but only one can, and the odds favour the two-time world champions. 

The Tigresses of Asia have qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup four times, including this year’s edition – but they’ve won just one match historically. Having lost their first two matches to Colombia and Morocco, South Korea look unlikely to find their second ever victory against Germany, although anything can happen in this competition as is evident by Germany’s shock loss to Colombia last Sunday.

However, even victory may not be enough for South Korea to progress. If they beat Germany on Thursday, they need Morocco to lose while also beating the Germans’ goal difference to qualify. As Germany’s goal difference is eight goals better than them, South Korea need to beat them by at least five goals to qualify. While progression is still possible, the task at hand may be an insurmountable challenge for the Tigresses of Asia. 

DFB-Frauenteam lost for the first time in the group stage of a FIFA Women’s World Cup against Colombia last Sunday. So, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side will be looking for a response against South Korea to send them through to the knockout stage. The two-time world champions impressed in their opening match with a 6-0 destruction of Morocco. They completed dominated the North African debutants to mark themselves down as major contenders for a third World Cup glory. However, the Germans were brought back down to earth with their shock loss to Colombia to sow doubts of their chances.

After Alexandra Popp scored what they thought was the equaliser, Manuela Vanegas scored in the 97th minute to deny Germany the point they thought they’d won. Germany still remain in a good position to progress to the knockouts and continue their quest for glory – if they win on Thursday, their place in the knockouts stage is guaranteed and they will play France next Tuesday, if Colombia avoid defeat to Morocco.

If DFB-Frauenteum win and Colombia lose, they can top the group with the group’s best goal difference and would play Jamaica in the next round. Anything less than victory against Tigresses of Asia will leave the Germans needing Morocco to lose against Colombia in order to progress. While it seems unlikely for Germany to struggle on Thursday, victory is never guaranteed and neither are favours from your opponents. So, Voss-Tecklenburg’s side will need to be fully focused on Thursday if they want to progress.

The group stage concludes in Australia with Morocco taking on Colombia at Perth Rectangular Stadium simultaneously with Thursday’s clash at Brisbane Stadium. The  Germans will be keeping a close eye on proceedings in Perth, especially if South Korea prevent their seemingly inevitable victory. Their fates hang in the balance with only two places remaining in the knockout stage. Will Germany find their feet again and progress to the knockouts or can South Korea make the impossible possible by taking their place? It’s all happening this Thursday in Brisbane!